Agitator system for centerpost agitator washer



2' EW 3,641,340 AGITATOR SYSTEM FOR CENTERPOS'I' AGITATOR WASHER FiledApril 28, 1965 g 9, 1963 s... A. JOHN$ON ETAL 2 Sheets-Sheer. 1

FIG.1.

INVENTORS Leslie A. Johnson William A. Wcsemunn WITNESSES ha im Q, 1966L. AJJQHNSON mm. 3,264,,fi

AGITATOR SYSTEM FOR CENTERPOST AGITATOR WASHER Filed April 23, l965 2Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent 3,264,847 AGlTATQlR SYSTEM FORCENTERPOST AGITATUR WASHER Leslie A. Johnson and William A. Wasemann,Mansfield, ()hio, assignors to Westinghouse Electric Corporation,Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Apr. 28, 1965, Ser.No. 453,884 Claims. (Cl. 68-23) This application is acontinuation-impart of our copending application Serial No. 310,700,filed Sept. 23, 1963, now abandoned.

The present invention relates to was-hing machine apparatus, and moreparticularly to washing machine apparatus of the centerpost agitatortype.

If uniform cleansing action is to be obtained in a conventionaloscillating centerpost agitator washer, the clothes must be circulated,that is, change positions with respect to each other. The regularstraight bladed agitator can provide adequate circulation for smallloads. This type of agitator usually has blades which are longer at thebottom than at the top, and acts as a centrifugal pump to produce acirculatory motion in the clothes being washed. However, the circulationtends to slow down and finally stop as the load size is increased.Another type of agitator which aids in circulating clothes in a washingmachine is the spiral, or screw-type, the name being descriptive of theshape of the agitator blades. Because of the screw action of this typeof agitator, the working stroke of the agitator pulls the clothesdownward, while the reverse stroke pushes the clothes upward. However,the opposite strokes are of approximately the same effectiveness as theworking stroke so that there is a substantial cancellation of thecirculation of the clothing which greatly limits the effectiveness ofthe screw type of agitator system. In both the above-mentioned types ofagitators, the clothing or spinner basket is usually rigidly fixed tothe washer during the washing cycle.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a newand improved washing machine apparatus.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide new andimproved washing machine apparatus wherein superior circulation ofclothes to be washed is provided over presently known systems.

Generally, the present invention provides in washing machine apparatus aspinner basket in which clothes are placed to be washed which is free tomove in one direction in response to oscillation of the agitator, but isprevented from moving in the other direction when the agitator reverses.This lack of freedom of rotation in one direction of the spinner basketcauses an overall change in position of the clothes for each oscillatorycycle of the agitator, thus providing increased circulation of clothesfor improved cleansing action over other conventional types of washers.

During the oscillation of the agitator, the clothes undergoing washingare subjected to alternating screw-down and screw-up forces by thescrew-type agitator. The stroke of the agitator in one direction ofrotation is reduced in accordance with the load imposed upon theagitator, and the coaxially outer basket containing the clothes rotatesin the other direction (counter to the agitator one direction ofrotation) toa degree proportional to the reduction of the agitatorstroke in that one direction. The outer basket is prevented fromrotating counter to the agitator during the agitator stroke in the otherdirection and, accordingly, there is a net difference in the screw-downand screw-up forces exerted proportional to the load of clothes. Sincethe net difference in these forces during successive oscillations of theagitator are additive, the clothes tend to have Patented August 9, 1966"ice a continuous net advance in a circulating path, with the degree offorce exerted to effect the circulation being proportional to the load.

These and other objects and advantages will become more apparent whenconsidered in view of the following specification and drawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side sectional view of the washing machine apparatus ofthe present invention;

FIG. 2 is an isometric view of one screw-type agitator suitable for usein the invention;

FIG. 3 is an isometric view of a diagrammatic character of one type oftransmission arrangement which may be used in practicing the invention;and

FIG. 4 is a generally diagrammatic top view of the tub interior showingthe motions involved according to the invention.

Referring now to the FIG. 1, an outer tub 2 is shown rigidly secured toa gear housing 4 through the bolts 6 and 8. Together the outer tub 2 andthe gear housing 4 form a stationary structure. A pulley .10, which isdriven by an external motor, not shown, is connected to a driving shaft1 2 which is supported by the bearing structure 14. The shaft 12 extendsinto the gear frame 16. Within the gear frame 16 is a gear train drivenby the shaft 12. The general arrangement of the gear train and frame isof well known character in the art, with the output provided at theoutput shaft 18 driving the agitator in oscillating fashion during thewash and rinse portion of the washing machine cycle. The output shaft 18is supported by the bearing structure 20 and extends up through theouter tub 2.

The transmission will be described in some detail in connection withFIG. 2, but for present purposes it will suffice to say that it is ofthe so-called coaxial type in which an inner shaft of the coaxialstructure oscillates the agitator when the input shaft 12 is rotated inone direction, and the outer spin tube of the structure is used for thespin cycle of the washing operation, the spin cycle occurring when theinput shaft 12 is rotated in the opposite direction.

In the present example, the inner shaft of the coaxial driving shaft 18'is the inner drive shaft 21, and the outer tubular member is the upperspin tube 22. Fitted over the upper spin tube 22 is the basket hub 24,which is rigidly keyed to the spin tube 22. Secured to the basket hub 24is the spin basket 26 which is fixed to the basket hub through the bolts28. The spin basket 26 is concentrically disposed with respect to theouter tub 2 and serves to hold clothing to be washed. Various aperturesare provided in the side Walls of the spinner basket 26 so that washingfluid may readily pass into and out of the basket.

The agitator 30 is of the screw or spiral type having the blades 31which extend from the bottom of the agitator 30 and spiral around theagitator toward the top of the agitator. As shown more clearly in FIG.2, the agitator includes a shallow dome-shaped base 35 which serves as aclothes guard, a hollow stem 36 secured by hub 32 to the inner shaft 21,and the blades 31. The blades include the inclined plane portions 37 andgenerally vertical wall portions 38 which spiral inwardly from bottom totop along the radially outer edges of the inclined plane portions. Thescrew action of an agitator having such a blade configuration is suchthat when the agitator is rotated in the counterclockwise direction theclothing contiguous thereto will be forced, or expressed in another way,screwed down, toward the bottom of the agitator, while on the otherhand, when the agitator is rotated in the other direction (the clockwisedirection) the clothing will be forced, or screwed up, toward the top ofthe agitator. If the agitator is moved equal amounts in the clockwiseand counterclockwise direction there will be a tendency to cancel anyoverall change in position of the clothing during one completeoscillatory cycle. However, the apparatus of the present inventionovercomes this difficulty as described hereinafter.

The agitator member 30 is fitted over the drive shaft 18 and attached tothe inner drive shaft 21 via the hub connector 32. The agitator 30 isthus driven in an oscillatory manner during the wash cycle. The spinnerbasket 26 is connected to the outer spin tube 22 which is not rotatablein both directions during the wash cycle, but may be rotated during thespin cycle. The agitator motion is thus independent of the spin motion.The spin tube 22, the basket hub 24, the spinner basket 26, and the gearframe 16, therefore, move and may rotate as one unit.

To provide, during the wash cycle, that the spinner basket 26 can rotatein only one direction, the over running clutch arrangement 34 isprovided. The overriding clutch, in the embodiment shown, comprises acoil spring made of wire having a square cross section. The coil of wireis disposed over the gear housing 4 at the area A. One end of the wireis fitted to the gear housing 4 at the area A. The upper portion of theclutch 34 is fitted around the area B of the gear frame 16. Theoperation of the overriding clutch is such that rotation of the gearframe 16 in one direction will cause the square cross section wire totighten and thus exert forces at the areas A and B to rigidly hold thegear frame 16 through the area B to the stationary gear housing 4 byexerting pressure at the area A. When there is rotation in the oppositedirection, however, the wire 34 will tend to loosen and permit the gearframe 16 to freely rotate with respect to the stationary gear housing 4.

The particular mechanical arrangement permitting the spinner basket 26to rotate in one direction but not in the other has the effect ofcirculating the clothes during each oscillatory cycle of the agitator.This can be seen from the following: Assuming that the driving stroke ofthe agitator is in the counterclockwise direction, as shown by the heavyarrow 40 in FIG. 4, clothing within the spinner basket due to the actionof the screw-type agitator will be driven downward toward the bottom ofthe spinner basket 26 during this portion of the oscillatory cycle ofthe agitator. The spinner basket during this portion of the oscillatorycycle is not free to rotate in the opposite direction under the reactiveforce of the agitator, because the overriding clutch mechanism 34 isengaged, rigidly holding the gear frame 16, the upper spin tube 22, thebasket hub 24 and the spinner basket 26 to the stationary outer tub 2and gear housing 4. On the clockwise, return stroke of the agitator 30,indicated by the heavy clockwise arrow 42 in FIG. 4, the clothes Withinthe spinner basket 26 are driven upward due to the screw action of theagitator, which tends to circulate the clothes within the spinnerbasket. Moreover, during this half of the oscillatory cycle of theagitator in the clockwise direction, the spinner basket 26 and connectedassembly is free to rotate because the overrunning clutch mechanism 34is now disengaged permitting independent movement of the gear frame 16with respect to the gear housing 4. Therefore, due to the reactive forceof the agitator shaft 21 against the gear frame 16 and so against thespinner basket 26, when the agitator moves in the clockwise. directionan opposite reaction torque will be directed against the spinner basket26 causing it to move in the counterclockwise direction, as indicated bythe relatively short arrow 44 of FIG. 4. The are of the movement of theagitator 30 will be reduced by the amount that the spinner basket 26moves in the counterclockwise direction, and this is indicated in FIG. 4by the reduced length of the arrow 42 (corresponding to the clockwiseagitator stroke) relative to the length of arrow 40 (corresponding tothe counterclockwise agitator stroke). The difference in length of thetwo strokes indicated by arrows 40 and 42 corresponds to theproportional advance of the spinner basket indicated by arrow '44.

By thereby permitting the basket 26 to rotate a given amount in theopposite direction to the rotation of the agitator 30, the clothingwithin the spinner basket will move an amount somewhat different fromthat moved during the driving stroke of the agitator. Therefore, duringa complete oscillatory cycle there will be a net change of position ofthe clothing within the basket enhancing circulation and cleansingaction within the washing apparatus. This is to be distinguished fromthe cancellation of circulatory action which occurs when the spinnerbasket cannot rotate in either direction, and the clothing will beforced downward the same amount it is forced upward by the oppositeportion of the oscillatory cycle.

To clarify the precise manner in which the load imposed upon theagitator results in a reaction torque causing the basket 44 to rotatecounter to the agitator, the transmission arrangement of FIG. 3 will bedescribed in some detail. The input shaft 12 carries the input pinion 50which drives spur gear 52 and an aflixed pinion 54 journaled in the gearframe structure 16 along an axis offset from the axis of the input andoutput shafts 12 and 21. The pinion 54 in turn rotates spur gear 56which has one end of an eccentric crank 58 pivotally attached theretowith the other end of the crank connected to rock segmental or sectorgear 60 which is also journaled from the gear frame along an offsetaxis. The sector gear 60 meshes with the output pinion 62 on the bottomend of the inner drive shaft 21. As the sector gear is rocked first oneway and then the other way by rotation of the gear 52 carrying eccentriccrank 58, the agitator is correspondingly oscillated so long as theinput shaft is driven in a clockwise direction and the gear frame isprevented from turning. However, with this type of transmissionarrangement in which some of the gears of the train are journaled in thegear frame along an axis parallel to but offset from the input andoutput axis, if the motion of the agitator when moving in a clockwisedirection is retarded by a heavy clothes load, the continued rotation ofthe input shaft coupled with the retarded rotation of the output shaftwill cause the sector gear 60 to proportionately climb around the outputpinion 62 to a new position angularly displaced in a counterclockwisedirection from its old position. The gear frame 16 is equally angularlydisplaced in a counterclockwise direction, and since the spinner basket26 is directly connected to the gear frame the basket is accordinglyrotated to the same extent as the gear frame in the counterclockwisedirection. When the agitator is rotated in the counterclockwisedirection, the clutch spring 34 of course prevents any clockwiserotation of the gear frame. Thus, when the agitator is being rotated ina counterclockwise direction all of the torque is delivered to theagitator and accordingly is able to turn in the counterclockwisedirection against a clothing load resistance which would retard itsturning in a clockwise direction.

It will be appreciated that the degree to which the clockwise stroke ofthe agitator is reduced is proportionate to the resistance of theclothing load encountered by the agitator. Thus, heavier wash loads willresult in a greater differential between the screw-down force(counterclockwise agitator stroke) and the screw-up force (clockwiseagitator stroke) than the differential which occurs with lighter washloads. This is advantageous in that water circulation to the clothes isnormally more restricted with a heavy clothing load, which tends tocompact, than with a light clothing load. Thus, the degree to which theclothes are progressively circulated, as distinguished from simply beingmoved back and forth between two locations, is dependent upon the sizeof the washing load.

The circulating force obtained by the differential between thescrew-down and screw-up agitator strokes is augmented by providingagitator blades which are of greater diameter at the bottom than at thetop of the agitator. The vertical wall portions of the agitator bladesparticularly in the lower part of the agitator, work somewhat like acentrifugal pump tending to move the clothes radially outwardlyregardless of the direction of the agitator stroke. The net result is acirculation of the clothes with greater effectiveness than that whichcan be obtained by either screw-type agitator alone of uniform diameter,or by straight blades alone.

The apparatus of the present invention thus has a dual advantage. First,a centrifugal pump action is provided causing circulation of clothes dueto the shape of the agitator blades. Second, a net circulatoryinterchange of position of the clothes over a complete cycle is provideddue to the spinner basket 26 being permitted to rotate in response tothe opposite direction of rotation of the agitator 30, while being fixedin position when the agitator is rotated in the other direction.

The general arrangement of the gear train and the rotatable gear frameas shown is conventionally used in centerpost agitator washing machinesto first obtain the oscillatory washing motion, and subsequently obtainthe high-speed spin drying by reversing the input shaft direction ofrotation. However, the provision of an arrangement in which the reactiontorque drive arrangement is used in the manner described to obtain thediffereutial in the alternate agitator strokes, coupled With ascrew-type agitator which utilizes this differential in the Waydescribed is believed to be new.

- We claim as our invention:

ll. In a clothes washing machine including a centerpost oscillatingagitator and an outer rotatable spin basket:

reaction torque drive means connected to oscillate said agitator andconcurrently impose counter rotative forces upon said basket;

means restraining rotation of said basket in one direction so thatcounter rotation of said basket relative to said agitator occurs onlyduring the stroke of said agitator in one direction; and

screw-shaped blade means on said agitator for obtaining a differentialin the screw-down and screw-up effect of said agitator duringalternating strokes thereof in accordance with the degree to which thestroke of said agitator in said one direction is reta-rded by the loadimposed upon said agitator by said clothes.

2. In a clothes washing machine including a centerpost oscillatingagitator and an outer rotatable spin basket:

reaction torque drive means connected to oscillate said agitator andconcurrently impose counter rotative forces upon said basket;

means restraining rotation of said basket in one direction so thatcounter rotation of said basket relative to said agitator occurs onlyduring the stroke of said agitator in said one direction; and

said agitator includes screw-shaped blade elements thereon to exert ascrew-up force upon the Washing load when rotated in said one direction,and a screwdown force when rotated in the opposite direction,

said blades being of decreasing diameter from bottom to top of saidagitator.

3. A clothes washing machine comprising:

a centerpost agitator including screw-shaped blades thereon ofdecreasing diameter in a bottom to top direction;

an outer spin basket for holding a load of clothes to be washed;

means preventing rotation of said spin basket in one direction butpermitting rotation thereof in the opposite direction;

drive means connected to oscillate said agitator, and.

selectively rotate said spin basket, said drive means being of areaction torque character and arranged so that a reduction in angulardisplacement of said agitator stroke in said one direction imposed bysaid clothes load effects a proportional angular displacement of saidbasket in said other direction to obtain a differential between thescrew-down force and screw-up force exerted upon said clothes by saidagitator during oscillation thereof.

4. In a coaxial centerpost agitator and spin basket type of washingmachine:

means for rotating said agitator in oscillating fashion;

means for holding said spin basket from rotating in one direction 'whilepermitting it to rotate in the opposite direction counter to theconcurrent rotation of said agitator and to a degree proportional to thereaction torque imposed upon said agitator by said clothes; and

means for exerting alternate screw-down and screw-up forces upon saidclothes with said agitator during alternate strokes thereof to enhancecirculation of said clot-hes in said basket as a result of thedifferential in angular displacement during alternate strokes of saidagitator.

5. The machine of claim 4 wherein:

said means for exerting said screw-up force with said agitator operatesduring the period of the agitator stroke which is subject to reductionin angular displacement.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,734,367 2/1956Geldhof 68l33 2,751,773 6/ 1956 Woodson 6823 FOREIGN PATENTS 195,8822/1958 Austria. 275,342 6/1914 Germany.

WILLIAM I. PRICE, Primary Examiner.

1. IN A CLOTHES WASHING MACHINE INCLUDING A CENTERPOST OSCILLATINGAGITATOR AND AN OUTER ROTATABLE SPIN BASKET: REACTION TORQUE DRIVE MEANSCONNECTED TO OSCILLATE SAID AGITATOR AND CONCURRENTLY IMPOSE COUNTERROTATIVE FORCES UPON SAID BASKET; MEANS RESTRAINING ROTATION OF SAIDBASKET IN ONE DIRECTION TO THAT COUNTER ROTATION OF SAID BASKET RELATIVETO SAID AGITATOR OCCURS ONLY DURING THE STROKE OF SAID AGITATOR IN ONEDIRECTION; AND SCREW-SHAPED BLADE MEANS ON SAID AGITATOR FOR OBTAINING ADIFFERENTIAL IN THE SCREW-DOWN AND SCREW-UP EFFECT OF SAID AGITATORDURING ALTERNATING STROKES THEREOF IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE DEGREE TOWHICH THE STROKE OF SAID AGITATOR IN SAID ONE DIRECTION IS RETARDED BYTHE LOAD IMPOSED UPON SAID AGITATOR BY SAID CLOTHES.